Various Questions on WITP AE

[RichardAckermann]

Hello !
I tried WITP AE about a year ago, but found it lacking due to a few issues. I returned now to ask if some if them have been solved meanwhile.

Is it now possible to create new airgroups ingame, in mid-scenario?
I found it troubling to not being able to adjust the strategy away from the historical existent airgroups.

Do several subs in one fleet attack now? I never managed to get a wolfpack engage any enemy. Only single subs seem to enter combat.

Do midget subs attack now? They just did not attack anything.

Is it possible to start construction of new ships in mid-scenario?

[Lecivius]

No
No
Yes
No

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

No
No
Yes And they have for years. You tried this a year ago and they didn't work? Either you used them wrong or lacked patience. This is not a first person shooter where things just fire when you pull a trigger. A very large component in this game is randomness, part of that being what 'the lower level commanders' actually do. You really have to get used to it.
No

[Puhis]

ORIGINAL: RichardAckermann

Hello !
I tried WITP AE about a year ago, but found it lacking due to a few issues. I returned now to ask if some if them have been solved meanwhile.

Is it now possible to create new airgroups ingame, in mid-scenario?
I found it troubling to not being able to adjust the strategy away from the historical existent airgroups.

Do several subs in one fleet attack now? I never managed to get a wolfpack engage any enemy. Only single subs seem to enter combat.

Do midget subs attack now? They just did not attack anything.

Is it possible to start construction of new ships in mid-scenario?

These "issues" are not real issues, and are not going to get "solved".

Midgets have always worked, but they are (almost) useless anyway. Sometimes they attack if you're lucky, usually they just die.

[HansBolter]

At first glance I thought witpqs' response was a bit terse.

However, I also feel the need to point out that the game is not an RTS where one side is trying to out build the other, nor is it HOI.

If being able to add to the OOB through the course of the game is important to you perhaps HOI would be more up your alley.

[Anachro]

While I agree with Hans and am having a blast with the game as is, it could be interesting for future variants to at least add the option of manipulating production to divert planned ship builds towards a different type in a limited way. Maybe at a disproportionate cost in PP.

I would be the first to say we don't want to go the direction of Hearts of Iron though.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

While I agree with Hans and am having a blast with the game as is, it could be interesting for future variants to at least add the option of manipulating production to divert planned ship builds towards a different type in a limited way. Maybe at a disproportionate cost in PP.

I would be the first to say we don't want to go the direction of Hearts of Iron though.

It is a massive game and even minor fixes and adjustments take a lot of effort. I don't think you will see any of the fixes you wish for. The game is pretty much mature now as it is older. Still the finest out there and some really fine mods that make it better. You can modify the OOB and arrival times in the editor but you won't be tweaking engine stuff. And except for the occasional fix, won't see anyone else doing it either. I doubt that anyone would find merit in your requests. Nice, but there would have to be a lot more demand and it would have to look more like a serious problem.

[Anachro]

ORIGINAL: crsutton
It is a massive game and even minor fixes and adjustments take a lot of effort. I don't think you will see any of the fixes you wish for. The game is pretty much mature now as it is older. Still the finest out there and some really fine mods that make it better. You can modify the OOB and arrival times in the editor but you won't be tweaking engine stuff. And except for the occasional fix, won't see anyone else doing it either. I doubt that anyone would find merit in your requests. Nice, but there would have to be a lot more demand and it would have to look more like a serious problem.

I'm not really making a request. I'm just noticing that such a feature would be interesting to have. I'm perfectly satisfied with the game (and mods) as is.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Puhis

Midgets have always worked, but they are (almost) useless anyway. Sometimes they attack if you're lucky, usually they just die.

Midgets are vastly entertaining. They are the comic relief. I have had them blown up from leaky batteries, to grounded, to caught in nets, malfunctioning torpedoes, and simply abandoned (I think the sub commander was rescued) and of course I have seen them sink a battleship with one torpedo.

Don't sell midgets short.[:D]

[wdolson]

A few notes...

ORIGINAL: RichardAckermann

Hello !
I tried WITP AE about a year ago, but found it lacking due to a few issues. I returned now to ask if some if them have been solved meanwhile.

Is it now possible to create new airgroups ingame, in mid-scenario?
I found it troubling to not being able to adjust the strategy away from the historical existent airgroups.

This is a feature that will never be added because it's out of scope for this type of game. You have tremendous flexibility to reassign air units and with PDU on, you have even more flexibility with what type of aircraft are assigned to each unit. With mods, you can create a large number of extra air units if you want. The editor is very flexible.

Allowing players to create air units could easily spin out of control and allow unrealistic numbers of air units.

Do several subs in one fleet attack now? I never managed to get a wolfpack engage any enemy. Only single subs seem to enter combat.

The sub war in the game is not as well modeled as it could be. The US was the only navy in the Pacific and Indian Ocean to employ wolfpack tactics and they didn't do it until 1944. To model wolfpacks correctly would require some bit of redesign with a start date. The game is still getting tweaked, but this is pretty much out of scope for current development.

Do midget subs attack now? They just did not attack anything.

Midget subs are poor by design. They were not very effective in the real war and that was modeled in game. Since day 1 some lucky players have seen midgets hit a target from time to time. But it's rare because it was rare in the real world.

Is it possible to start construction of new ships in mid-scenario?

This again is out of scope for the game. The Allies don't have any control over ship construction at all. The Japanese can advance ships in the queue and delay or cancel other ships, but if a ship isn't designated in the scenario file, it can't be built. A player can always do a mod with new ship construction and there are a lot of what if mods with ships not in the official scenarios. But allowing the Japanese to built new ships not in the scenario file would be massively gamey.

Bill

[BBfanboy]

A little expansion is required on the "wolf pack" question. True, multiple subs in a TF will not participate in a single attack - only one will. However, I use subs in pairs in the same TF and quite often after one of the subs makes an attack, or even just a sighting or is attacked, there is a subsequent combat where the other sub makes an attack. The detection level of the target is no doubt raised by the first sub and the second sub uses that to its advantage.

[RichardAckermann]

Thanks for all the answers.

I used midgets to defend bases that were about to be invaded, but aside from them being attacked by escorts they never did anything - not even vs. unescorted freighters unloading troops in the same hex.

Does anyone know if the source code to this game will be released someday?

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: RichardAckermann

Thanks for all the answers.

I used midgets to defend bases that were about to be invaded, but aside from them being attacked by escorts they never did anything - not even vs. unescorted freighters unloading troops in the same hex.

Does anyone know if the source code to this game will be released someday?

I would strongly bet against it. If the source code was released, fair PBEM games would be virtually impossible. If you have the source code (and know anything about programming), cheating in PBEM is extremely easy and you would have to be extremely trustful of your opponent.

Bill

[RichardAckermann]

I did not think of that cheating point. You are perfectly right about that.
So only one wish remains on my list. Creating new airgroups "on the fly"
(maybe ground troops too, especially aviation support)

In my first game versus my neighbour who owned the game I (Japan) quickly seized all islands from Wake down to Fiji and tried to set up a defense with those large floatplanes. Yet I found my increased production virtually useless because I was unable to deploy the reserve aircraft.
That was frustrating. And setting up the editor before playing would inform my opponent of my intentions, plus I cannot ajust to how good/bad things are going for me.

I would like to be more flexible ingame. Predefined airgroups would only fit well if the flow of war results is also predefined. But it is a game after all, not a Movie with fixed outcome.

[crsutton]

The amazing thing is what does work. In my last campaign my esteemed opponent, hit me with baka bombs, midget subs and had a dying bomber pilot go kamikaze on my ass and blow up a Iowa class BB with a magazine explosion. The thing is none of them are enough of a threat to change the war. Just fun to see. It is jaw dropping at times. I once had an ARD break a tow line and sustain a lot of damage in the open ocean.

[pontiouspilot]

We all have little things on our ideal wish list.....on the whole however CR is right as always! Richard, if you find a live opponent for a game you will forget all about sweating the little things that could be.

[paradigmblue]

I had midget subs put torps into two of my carriers in two different harbors on the same turn in one of my games. They may not have the best success rate, but they can do some damage if you get lucky.

[witpqs]

At least 3 times I have had midget subs sink one of my BB at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 turn. Hit one at least one other time.

[RichardAckermann]

ORIGINAL: crsutton
The amazing thing is what does work. In my last campaign my esteemed opponent, hit me with baka bombs, midget subs and had a dying bomber pilot go kamikaze on my ass and blow up a Iowa class BB with a magazine explosion. The thing is none of them are enough of a threat to change the war. Just fun to see. It is jaw dropping at times. I once had an ARD break a tow line and sustain a lot of damage in the open ocean.

That are some cool features. Such things did not happen on the old version I played then. It did not even allow for manual resizing of airgroups. Only on/off for auto resize on a preset date. If I read the forum right, that feature was added meanwhile.

Well, this "threat to change the war" is what I intent to (try to) do. If I engage such a challenge, I want to win. To stand a chance, I need to leave the path Japan followed in strategy and deployment. And I need to try alot squeezing a high-yield effectiveness out of the outmatched japanese military.
I also wanted to make use of those 2 engine fighter bombers, but found few airgroups that accepted the type as upgrade.

[rustysi]

I also wanted to make use of those 2 engine fighter bombers, but found few airgroups that accepted the type as upgrade.

Play with PDU on and you will be able to convert as many as you like. There is however a PP cost in many cases.